Biggles in het verre oosten (Vandersteen comic)
Biggles in het verre oosten was the first in the series of Biggles comic strips in the Flemish/Dutch language by the Belgian company "Studio Vandersteen". The comic strip first appeared in the daily newspaper De Standaard between 12 April and 26 June 1965 and was later collected into an album released in October 1965. In het verre oosten was written and drawn by Karel Verschuere although only Vandersteen is credited and never the individual artists. In 1995, a French translation was published in colour, by Lefrancq as part of Biggles Archives tome 1. Synopsis There is also a Biggles novel "Biggles in het verre oosten" which is the Dutch title for a translation of Biggles - Air Commodore novel. The Vandersteen comic strip bears the same Dutch title but is substantially different. It is a loose adaptation of the novel with a modernized Air Police setting. Biggles and friends investigate the mysterious sinking of British ships but he doesn't get to be an Air Commodore. Plot (Click on expand to read) The setting for the events has been modernized. Biggles, Algy and Ginger (there is no Bertie) are in the Air Police, and they work at Interpol Air Headquarters in Hong Kong! Modern aircraft are used, minor characters are dropped or are not named, and Biggles doesn't get to be an Air Commodore. He remains an Inspector. The preambular story of how Biggles got involved in the case is different from the original novel. At Interpol headquarters in Hong Kong, Biggles receives reports about the sinkings of British ships. Algy notes that the distress calls all contain the same spelling error, and there is, by good fortune, a survivor, Thompson, from the Shanodah. Biggles and friends rush to the hospital to interview him, but an unknown assassin shoots Thompson through the window and then escapes. A pursuit through the streets of Hong Kong ensues but the assassin is killed when he is knocked down by a car. Back at Interpol Headquarters, "Colonel" Lottison tells Biggles the Admiralty has concluded that the sinkings are the work of a mysterious enemy vessel. Biggles outlines his plan involving a decoy and a destroyer. This is approved and Biggles and friends rendezvous in Burma for the mission. Once the main action gets going, the rest of the plot of the comic strip is actually quite faithful to the plot in the novel with only small changes: *The character of Squadron Leader Tom Lowery does appear but in a slightly different context. Biggles calls him for information at the beginning of the mission. He learns that Tom had been overdue and been posted as missing after failing to return from a patrol over the Bay of Bengal three days ago. Biggles and Algy later discover the wreckage of Tom's aircraft. *The aircraft which attacks the "Nemesis" is red, just like the original, but it is not a seaplane of the Schneider racer type. *In the original, Ginger shoots it down with a Lewis. Here he uses a Bren machine gun. *Gilmore's death is given more coverage. There is a sustained firefight which results in two native assassins being killed. One appears to have a Tommy gun. *The boarding of the junk is executed by sailors armed with Tommy guns and not pistols and cutlasses. Ginger swims out ahead of the boat to climb up and knock out the sentry of the junk. He then signals the boat with the boarders to approach. *When Dyak natives are pursuing Biggles, Ginger does not put them to flight by accidentally dropping from a treetop grave, giving the pursuers the fright of their lives that a corpse had come back to life. He intervenes with a pistol and drives them off. *The aircraft which attack Elephant Island at the end are not Vildebeests but B-29 Washingtons. They do come from Singapore, though. Characters The Special Air Police *Biggles *Algy Lacey *Ginger Hebblethwaite Others *Thompson *Lord Lottison has morphed into a Colonel Lottison who is Biggles' Air Police boss. There is no Raymond. *Commander Michael Sullivan *Ladgrove *Gilmore *Squadron Leader Tom Lowery Aircraft *"Nemesis" - Air Police amphibian. A Grumman HU-16 Albatross in Hong Kong registration letters! *B-29 Washington Places Visited Research notes Illustrations Editions References Category:Derivative works